Parachute toy



PARACHUTE Toys Filed Jan. 14, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l,

' 4, ,1 l, af

` l INVENTOR. //rea/ El/7% verz, BY

AfL.. RUTHVEN 2,364,821

Dec. 12, 1944. A. L. RUTHVEN PARACHUTE TOYS 4 sheets-sheet 2 l FileaJan. 14, 1942 1NVENTOR. l

Dec. 12, 1944. A RUTHVEN 2,364,821

PARACHUTE TOYS Filed Jan. 14, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENT OR.

Dec. 12, 1944.

A. L. RUTHVEN f PARACHUTE TOYS Filed Jan. 14. 1942 4 Sheets-Shee?I 4Patented- Dec. 12, 1944 PARACHUTE TOY Alfred L. Ruthven, Binghamton, N.Y., assigner to Louis R. Ruthven, Binghamton, N. Y.

Application January 14, 19.472, serial No. 426,761 t v12 ciaims. (c1.i6-86) This invention relates to 'a parachute toy of the type which isprojected into the air and in the course of iiight a parachute is openedto retard the falling action of the device. Its object is to provide adevice adapted to be projected into the air and towhich a parachute isattached, the parachute remaining collapsed during the flightand beingopened after a predetermined interval to suspend the device as `itfalls. Another object of -the invention is to provide a device of thistype having a parachute attached by its crown to be pulled by the deviceduring flight and also attached by itspbasev to the device so that itopenswhen thecrown at-v tachment is released and acts as a parachute forthe falling device, and another object of the invention is 'to provide adevicefor projecting into the air including` a parachute with areleasable attachment for b-ringing the parachute into operationduringight.

These and other objects of the invention will be more particularly.understood from the following specication and the accompanying drawings,showingthree types of the device, `and in 4 Fig..1 is an elevation of adisc type parachute toy embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows the parachute in action retarding the fall of the device,and

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the `operation o the device in ight.

Fig. 6 is anotherform` of the device comprising a weight which isrprojected 'by a twirling action;

Fig. 7 is a detail of the timing mechanism in Fig. 6 shown at rightangles to Fig. 6;

v Fig. 8 shows the device in Fig. 6 in the fall-` ing position with'theparachute open, and

Fig. 9 is a diagram of the twirling projection.

of the device.

v, Fig. 10 shows the invention applied to a narrow, partly sectioned;

Fig. 11 is another viewof part of Fig. 10, and

Fig. 12 shows the arrow in Fig. 10 in the falling position with theparachute open.

Fig. 13 is another form of the device compris- .ing a Weight `to beprojected, as in Fig. 6, but

showing a different structure for hand hold, and for reel and attachmentfor the crown connection.

Fig. 14 is adetail view, partly in section, 'of

the'hand hold, reel and associated parts rshown al, Fg.v13.` 5f-1r Fig.15 is a front elevation,`partly in`section,'of a modied form cicrown-connection releasing mechanism. 1 ,l 4'

Fig. 16 is a side 'View of the release mechanism shownat Fig. 15. f f

` Fig. 1'7` isa view of the release shown Vat Fig. y15 illustrating itsuse-as a part. of the devicein the `form shown at-Fig. 13.

This invention comprises Aa VWeightedV object suitable 'for .projectingintoy the'rair by hand, or other 'available means, and to which apara.'-

jch'ute is attached by ay short attachment to'itfs -crown and by alonger ,attachmentto its base.

The short attachment'pulls 'the parachute along with the object in acollapsed position but,y dur ing the ight, the short attachment isreleased, permitting the long attachment to'becomeeffective whichinverts j the',parachute 'and lquickly bringsv the flight of theobjectto a vstop ,asy the yparachute retards its fall.

"Several methods are sho" n forfrelea'singithe crown attachment of theparachute. All of these fmethods involve a time interval which is'modi,-

' ned by the flight or the object through the air in a linealdirection.vv The time intervalfcanl readily be varied sothat thisrelease willbecoune effective f coincident -with the Vobject attaining asuitable height. When'the parachutefopens the flight of the object isretarded andthe fall#- ing action begins subject to the parachutecontrol.

In the drawings, II is a disc providedwitha central -projecting stemlI-2fat right angles'to the plane of thedisc and threaded'at itsouter endI3 with a screw thread. Asocketjly provided with the air varies I5 'andI6 kscrews on the thread I3 andV seats on the soft rubber ring I 1. Thedisc II is provided with ank attachingring VI8 andthe socket I4 isprovided with" another attaching ring I9.

'I he parachute 2|, shown inthe folded polsifi Ation iny Fig.' 1,is'attached byjthe crown conneclgvtion 23 to the ring I9 andito'thesocket I4, while the base of the parachute is attached by the longerconnection 22 with the ring 'IB on disc I'I`.

The disc is projected by throwing itinto the air as indicated in thediagram, Fig. 5. The 'disc usu-ally receives a spinning action as it isthus "projected, which maintains itin a deiniteplane.

The vanes I5 andv I6, Fig. 2, `are acted upon vby the'air due to the"lineal motion of" the disc which causesa *rotation of socketA I4 on thethreaded stem I3.- This rotation is in the direction that unscrews thesocket I4 from the stem I3 and releases this socket, with the ring I9from the disc after a predetermined interval of night which isdetermined by the pitch of the thread on I3. The disc follows the courseindi` cated by line a-a, Fig. 5, while the socket I4 in releasing fromthe disc moves at right angles to the plane of the disc and whenreleased tends to follow the course indicated by line b. As soon as thesocket I4 s released from the stem I3 the pulling action on the crown ofthe parachute is released and the air resistance reverses the parachuteso that it is opened to retard further flight and to become effective asa parachute. l v

In the construction of this device the soft rubvents these parts fromfreezing and facili-v tates starting the socket to unscrew. The socketand the vanes I5 and I6 should be made of light material, :preferably oflight metal or a molded plastic, the weight of which is readilyovercomel ring 29 which is used by theoperator as indicated in Fig. 9 at29 to twirl the weight 25 in a Vcircle and release it -to projectvertically on the line a. The frame 21 carries a wind Wheel 33,`provided with vanes 34 to engage the wind during the straight flight.This wheel is mounted on *the shaft 32 upon which the reel 3| is alsomounted. y The cord 23 from the crown of the parachutesZl is wound onthe reel 3| .and the base cord 22 is connected to ring 29. A shield 35,secured to frame 21, `shields one side of the wind wheel 33 so that instraight ight it is rotated by the wind in one direction.

In this application of my invention the wind wheel 33 is used as aretarding device to retard the rotation of reel 3| and the release ofcord tion, the lwheel 33 is moving in a `circle and there is no tendencyto cause its rotation., Further the wheel is located close to the ring29, that is to the center of rotation and moves relatively slowlycompared with weight 25.

f ber ring I 1, between the socket and the base, pre- 145 23. Whenthedevice is twirled prior to projec` When the device is projected in alineal di# y rection the air resistance to the parachute applies a pullto the cord 23` to rotate the reel 3|. This is retarded, rstby theinertia` ofthe wheel 33 and then, as this wheel develops speed,`

the vanes l34 on its surface are acted upon by the air tending to moveit in a reverse direction tothe torque applied by reel 3|, thusretardine therotation of the reel. The cord A23 engages the reel 3| byfriction andas it approaches theend of the winding it slips oi the reel,thereby 'permitting the parachute to be inverted and to open as in Fig.8. The extent of the wind-` ing on vreel 3| determines the release ofcord 23.v I

.Inthe arrow construction in Figs. 10, l1 and 12,

the'arrow 4| has' a shank 42 upon which the the time interval of .sleeve4 3 is rotatably mounted and this sleeve is provided with a reel 44 forreceiving the cord 23 .which is guided by the arm 46. An eye 41, at

the .base of the arrow, isconnected to the bot- 1 tom cord 22 and thebow-string is indicated by 48. The sleeve 43 is provided with inclinedweather vanes 45 lwhich are acted upon by the A into socket 59 in theframe 21.

air during the flight to retard the rotation of sleeve 43 caused byunreeling the cord 23 to increase the time interval necessary forreleasing 23 and making 22 effective to open the parachute as in Fig.12. The point of the arrow is provided with a spring end 8 which mayhave a detonator 9 that is exploded when the point strikes the ground.

In the twirling devicein Figs. 13 and 14, the ball 52 is held in thehand of the operator and is connected to the cord 26 by a universaljoint at 5|. The reel 53 is enclosed in the ball and upon this reel thecrown cord 23, is wound after, passing through an eye at 60, close tothe weight 25. The reel 53 is inserted in a slot at 54 in the ball andis eccentric to the ball so that the edge projects at 55.

The cord is wound on the reel by rotating the Y edge 55 which is exposedfor this purpose. There is some tendency for the pull on the crown cord23, as the device is twirled to unwind the reel,

handhold ball is indicated at 52a. In this mechanism a latch Visprovided which holds the crown cord positively until it is unlatched. Inthis construction, the wind wheel 33 carrying stem 32 is aiiixe'd to thescrew shaft 58 which screws This wheel is rotated by the air pressure onits vanes as the -devicev is in flight and its rotation screws shaft `58through socket 59 vto the right carrying wheel 33 to the right until thestem 32 iswithdrawn from the lower hole in the latching plate 56 thuspermitting the` parachute attached to cord 23 to pull latch plate 56from slot 51 of the frame. 'Ihe distance of the wheel from the rightside of the frame may be varied to vary the time in which the latch willrelease. A funnel may be provided at 6| to direct the air stream tothewind wheel 33.

Having thus described my invention',l I'claim:

1. In a parachute toy, a disc having a central stem with a screw;.thread thereon, a socket screwed on said `stern having air vanesprojecting at right angles to the plane of the disc, a parachute havingits crown attached toI sadsocket and its base attached to said disc andarranged sovthat in flight the parachute remains closed and when thesocket is unscrewed by the action of the air on the vanes as it isprojected, the parachute is opened to retard the fall of the disc. Y

2. Ina parachute toy, 'a disc having a central stem, projecting at rightangles to the plane of .the disc, a member secured to said stem, a.

parachute having its crown attached to said member and its base attachedto said disc, means for detaching said member from said stem when Athedisc is in flight, said parachute remaining ed to release said crownupon rotation of said member to a predetermined extent and wind engagingmeans carried by said member adapted to affect the speed of rotation ofthe member, said parachute having its base secured to said device foropening the parachute when it is pulled by said device.

4. In a parachute toy, a disc having a cen-v tral screw stem projectingat right angles tothe plane of the disc, said disc being weighted sothat it may be thrown into the air, a screw socket for said stem withair vanes thereon, said socket being relatively light, a parachutehaving its crown connected to said socket so as to pull the parachute ina closed position during the flight of the disc, and having its baseconnected to said disc, said 4socket being unscrewed by the action ofthe air on the vanes during flight to permit the parachute to open andsupport the disc when falling.

5. In a parachute toy, a weight with a twirlng cord attached 'theretofor projecting the til the'cord is unreeled'and is then Opened to retardthe fall of the weight and means for shielding the vanes of part of saidwind wheel so that its rotation '1s retarded by the air when in night.

8. In a parachute toy, a device tobe Iprojected into the air, a rotatingmember with a reel therei on mounted on said device,y air vanes on saidrotating member to modify its rotation whenin til the cord is unreeledwhen the parachute is i opened to retard the fall of the weight.

9. In a parachute toy, a device-to be projected i into the air by atwirling motion comprising a weight, a frame in said cord having a windwheel and a reel rotated by the Wind wheel, a parachute having a cordattached to its crown wound on said reel, and a second cord secured toits base attached to said weight, so arranged that in iiight theparachute is pulled in a closed fposition from the crown and when thecord ,is unreeled it is opened to retard the fall of the weight.

6. In a parachute toy, a weight with a twirling cord attached theretofor projecting the weight, a frame in said cord having a reel, aparachute having a cord attached to its crown wound on said reel, and asecond cord secured to its base attached to said weight, so arrangedthat in flight the parachute is pulled in a closed position from thecrown until the cord is 11nreeled and is opened thereafter to `retardthe fall of the weight, and means for retarding the unwinding of saidreel.

7. In a parachute toy, a weight with a twirling cord attached theretofor projecting the weight into the air, a frame in said cord, a windwheel having vanes in said frame and a reel secured to said wheel androtating therewith, a parachute having a cord attached to its crownWound on said reel and a second cord secured to its base attached tosaid weight, so arranged that in flight the parachute remains closedunweight with a cord, secured at the opposite end to a ball held by theoperator, a reel in said ball,

a parachute, a cord attached to said parachute,

and wound on said reel and means whereby the operator can holdsaid reelagainst unwinding until the 'device is'V projected,"

10. In aparachute toy, a device to be projected into the air comprisinga wind wheel, a latched secured by said wheel to the projected device, aparachute, a cord attached to said parachute and secured by its free endto said latch, and means for releasing the latch by the rotation of saidwheel.

11. In a parachute toy, a device adapted to be projected into the air, atoy parachute detach7 ably engaged at its crown to said device andhaving its base connected with said device, vane means carried by thedevice and adapted for operation responsive to air resistance and meansengaging the parachute crown to the device and operable, responsive vtooperation of the vane means, to detach the crown.

v12. In a parachute toy, a device to be projected into the air, arotating member mounted on said device, a parachute having a cordsecured to its crown and attached to said member and another cordattached to its base and to said device, the member being adjustable andaffected by the flight 0f the device to vary the time during the ight atwhich the crown connection will be released whereupon the parachute willopen and descend carrying the device.

ALFRED L. RUTHVEN.

